President Donald Trump would like the world to think a ceasefire with Iran is still possible. But within the bowels of the Pentagon and the White House, his military commanders are preparing something very different.

Anonymous defence department sources are warning us to expect ‘the final blow’ – a massive air, sea and land assault to open the Strait of Hormuz, save the world economy and crush Tehran’s resistance once for and all.

The plans are shrouded in mystery of course. The scope and the timetable keep shifting. The only certainty is that the action, when it takes place, will be recorded on camera and the explosion-filled footage will be edited into short video compilations to impress the Commander-in-Chief.

War is a deadly business but, for Trump, life inside the campaign headquarters is a non-stop video game.

Officials from US Central Command are not only obliged to ensure that America’s increasingly complex operations in the Middle East run smoothly. According to high-level sources, the top brass must also, on a daily basis, feed their screen-addicted President a satisfying stream of ‘stuff blowing up’.

Ever since Operation Epic Fury began one month ago with the first bombings of Iran, Trump’s workday routine has included regular sit-downs amid the oak panels and big screens of the newly renovated White House Situation Room alongside his close advisers.

There, in every session, the team is reportedly shown ‘strike montages’ which, lasting two or three minutes, feature satellite or aircraft footage of Iranian targets being pulverised into smoke and dust. Not all of them, of course. America’s warplanes and missiles have struck some 10,000 targets in the last four weeks, so there is not time to review every action. The videos are more of a highlights package.

There’s said to be a ‘written component’ to these briefings, but everybody knows that Trump is a visual creature.

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